


Accomplice Pony

by SleepyOne



Category: Pony Pals - Fandom
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Murder, Mystery, ponies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29588712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyOne/pseuds/SleepyOne
Summary: When the Pony Pals make a shocking discovery during their ride at Mt. Morris, they're not sure what to do. This is something that could forever change their lives. But the Pony Pals can overcome anything when they work together, and so the friends unite to solve this problem that they're faced with once and for all.





	1. Mt. Morris Adventures

**Author's Note:**

> I read the Pony Pals books over and over years ago when I was a horse-obsessed child, and lately I've been reading them again just for fun. It's inspired me to write my own Pony Pals story in the same simplistic style as the originals.

Lulu moved Snow White into a trot as she followed behind Anna and Acorn on Pony Pal Trail. She would never grow tired of riding this trail. The mile-and-a-half woodland trail formed a perfect connection between their friend Pam’s property and Acorn and Snow White’s paddock. And even now in the wintertime, the trees looked beautiful with snow and the occasional row of icicles hanging from their branches.

“The trail might be a little icy up ahead, so be careful,” Anna called back to her.

“You’re right, I can see it,” Lulu said. She recognized the shimmering patches of ice up ahead and decided to slow Snow White to a walk.

As they continued forward, Lulu smiled as she noticed a few snowflakes falling from the sky. Lulu loved nature and learned a lot about it from her father. He traveled the world to study wild animals, and Lulu would often go with him and learn alongside him. Lulu’s mother died when she was only four years old, so she was very close with her dad. But when Lulu turned ten, he decided it would be best for her to live in one place so she could have a more stable life and make friends in their town. That’s why Lulu currently lived in the town of Wiggins with her grandmother Sanders.

Just a couple weeks ago, Father left to travel to Antarctica and study penguins. Though Lulu loved it in Wiggins, she begged him to let her come with him so she could see the penguins too.

“But I love penguins, dad! It would be amazing to get to see them in person,” she’d pleaded.

“Lulu… Antarctica is a very cold and, frankly, dangerous place. If there’s one trip you shouldn’t come on with me, it’s this one,” he’d said.

And so he left on his plane to Antarctica, leaving Lulu behind in Wiggins. She was a little disappointed at first, but now she was thankful she could stay here in Wiggins with her friends. She loved being here with Snow White and her fellow Pony Pals.

Pam Crandal was probably the most knowledgeable Pony Pal when it came to ponies and horses. Her father was a veterinarian and her mother worked as a riding instructor, so she’d been around ponies and horses her whole life. Pam enjoyed school and really excelled in their class at Wiggins Elementary. She also loved her beautiful Connemara pony, Lightning.

Anna Harley was dyslexic and had trouble in school with things like reading and math. But she loved art class and enjoyed drawing lots of different things, especially ponies. She didn’t get her own pony until she was nine years old, but she loved Acorn with all her heart. Her father was a firefighter, and her mother owned and worked at the local town diner. It was a favorite meeting spot for the Pony Pals.

Lulu and Anna navigated their ponies through the icy patches in the trail and finally met up with Pam at the halfway point of the trail, near the three birch trees.

“Acorn looks like he’s really liking the snow,” Pam said.

Anna smiled and gave his neck a pat. “He loves this weather. You should’ve seen him in his paddock with Snow White this morning.”

Lulu nodded with her. “They were running around and kicking up snow at each other. This snow is super fluffy, so they love playing in it.”

Pam moved forward a couple steps on Lightning. “Did Snow White get hurt?” she asked. She pointed down at Snow White’s leg, which had a small bandage wrapped around it.

“Oh yeah, and your face. What happened?” Anna asked, gesturing at the small bandaid on Lulu’s cheek.

Lulu put a hand to her cheek. “Oh, well I was riding Snow White on one of the trails yesterday and she got a bit spooked. I think it was because of some snow that fell from a tree. She got a small cut on her leg when she was panicking, and I ended up getting scratched by a branch.”

“Aww, poor Snow White,” said Anna.

“She seems better now, at least,” Pam said, looking up at the falling snow.

Lulu nodded. “I think she’ll be fine today. You ready to get going, Snow White?”

Snow White snorted as if to say, “I’ve been ready!”

The three of them continued down Pony Pal trail. It was Anna’s turn to lead today, and Acorn seemed proud to be their guide. Pam was second in line, and Lulu brought up the rear. When they reached the end of Pony Pal trail, they turned off to head towards the trails at Mt. Morris. They’d been to Mt. Morris a couple times before, but there were still plenty of unexplored trails there. Lulu was excited to see what the trails had to offer today.

The air grew slightly colder as they reached the Mt. Morris area, though the snow remained light and thankfully didn’t impact visibility. As they rode, Lulu noticed an entrance to another woodland trail that looked to be a little bit more concealed and suggested they check it out.

“We definitely haven’t been there before,” Anna said.

“Let’s check it out. It could be a fun new place to ride,” Pam agreed.

The three of them proceeded down the trail, taking in their surroundings along the way. This trail was a little more narrow, though the ponies didn’t mind. In fact, they seemed to enjoy getting to explore a new place. It was also very quiet along the trail. Even the ponies’ footsteps were somewhat muted in the snow that coated the ground. As they got further into the woods, it grew even more quiet, until they finally reached a small clearing.

“That was a long trail,” Anna said as they paused in the clearing.

“Yeah, we must be pretty deep in the woods,” said Pam.

The three of them dismounted to give their ponies a quick rest and take a look around the area. The ground was relatively flat, but somewhat muddy and dotted with brush and snow. There didn’t seem to be any other connecting trails here - only more woods in every direction, Lulu noted. Still, this could be a nice place to have a Pony Pals picnic.

“What’s that?” Anna said, pointing at something that was propped against a tree near the edge of the clearing. She squinted at it and took a couple steps forward.

“Is that a shovel?” Pam stepped forward alongside her. The two of them approached the tree, while Lulu stayed with their ponies at the center of the clearing.

“Oh my god!” Anna let out a scream that broke the stillness that had settled in the area.

“Is that… is that…?” Pam repeated.

“What is it?” Lulu asked them.

Anna turned back with a look of horror on her face. “It’s Tommy Rand! And he’s… he’s dead!”


	2. A Shocking Discovery

Lulu quickly tied the ponies’ leads to a nearby branch so she could join Pam and Anna.

“Did you say…?” Lulu started as she hurried over to them.

Pam and Anna were silent, but Lulu got her answer as she stood beside them and looked down. It was Tommy Rand, the meanest eighth grader in their school, and he was very much not alive. His eyes were closed, and his skin was pure white. It almost matched the surrounding snow. The brush and neighboring trees kept his body somewhat hidden, and he nearly blended in with the terrain.

“I can’t believe this,” said Pam.

“How did this happen? Do you think this was an accident?” Anna asked, looking between her friends.

“I don’t think so,” Lulu said. “I’m not sure how it could be an accident. There’s nothing around here, only trees and snow. That stupid mountain bike he always rode isn’t even here.”

“That’s true. If his bike were here, it could mean he crashed or something. But it’s almost like he was put here,” Pam said.

Anna turned around and picked up the object that was propped against the tree. It was indeed a shovel, like Pam guessed earlier. She held the shovel forward.

“Do you think this has anything to do with it?” Anna asked them.

Pam leaned forward to examine it. “I don’t see blood or anything on it. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t used. Why else would it be here?”

“It could’ve been used to dig out this area a little,” Lulu suggested. “He definitely blends in here.”

Anna shook her head. “Who could’ve possibly done this? Could it be someone he bullied at school? Someone else?”

Pam sighed as she turned around. “I don’t know. I can’t think of anyone I know in Wiggins who would do something like this.”

The three of them stood in silence for awhile beneath the falling snow. Even the ponies seemed to stay quiet, as if they were concerned about their friends. Snow White gave a small, comforting nicker as Lulu looked over at her.

Eventually Anna spoke up. “What should we do now? We have to report this to the police, right?”

“I think we have to,” Pam said. “I know we didn’t like him and he was a jerk to us, but the police should probably know. And his family…”

Lulu frowned. Something was bothering her about this.

“Do you think that the police might accuse us of hurting him?” she wondered.

“What? How could they accuse us? We didn’t do anything!” Anna exclaimed.

“Yeah, we’re just the ones who found him,” said Pam.

“But doesn’t this look suspicious? Everybody knows we didn’t get along with Tommy Rand. He called us the Pony Pests all the time,” Lulu said.

Pam and Anna glanced at one another, unsure. Lulu continued.

“Your fingerprints are all over that shovel now, and our footprints are all over the place in the snow and mud here.”

“Along with our ponies’ hoof prints, I guess,” Pam added.

Lulu nodded. “So if people know we didn’t like him, and it’s super obvious that we’ve been here, then what are the police going to think?”

Anna looked frightened at the thought. “Will they really think we did it? I mean, I guess I did complain about him sometimes at school.”

“I did too. I wish I could take it back now,” said Lulu.

They fell silent again, thinking about Tommy Rand and their current predicament. Their ponies were beginning to shuffle around now, as if eager to get away from this place.

“What are we supposed to do?” Pam finally said.

Anna threw up her arms in frustration. “We can’t let the police accuse us. We’d get in so much trouble. What if we ended up losing our ponies because of it?”

Lulu shook her head. “That would be awful. They can’t break up the Pony Pals. I don’t want to lose Snow White.”

The three of them looked over at their ponies again, and Acorn gave a loud whinny as if to say, “I’m not going to let that happen!”

Anna went over to him and gave him a big hug. “I’d never let them take you away, Acorn. We just have to figure out what to do next.”

“Maybe we just need some more time to brainstorm,” Pam said.

“What do you mean?” Anna asked.

“This place is pretty far away from town, so I doubt a lot of people come here. They’re probably not going to find him right away, so we have some time to figure out how we want to handle things,” Pam explained.

“But what if someone does find him? Then what?” Anna worried.

“It is snowing right now. Plus there’s a lot of brush around here. We could probably cover him up a little better,” Lulu suggested.

“That could work,” said Pam.

“Is that wrong though? It sounds kind of like we’d be burying him,” Anna said.

“We’re not really burying him, though,” Pam countered.

“Not really,” Lulu said. “Just shifting the snow around a little bit. Plus it’s not like we’re doing it to hurt him. We have to protect ourselves. And our ponies, most importantly.”

Anna didn’t have a response for that. And so the three of them began to gather some more snow and brush from the surrounding area to make Tommy Rand a little less visible. Before they knew it, he was completely hidden. The only way someone would find him was if they started digging around.

Once they were finished, they mounted their ponies and began the ride back to town. They were silent nearly the entire ride. Lulu felt her mind racing as she thought about what happened, and yet there was a feeling of numbness that settled within her as well. She and Anna eventually said goodbye when they reached Pam’s house.

When they arrived at Anna’s house, Lulu gave Snow White a quick brushing, a couple handfuls of oats, and then said goodbye to Anna.

“See you at school tomorrow,” she said.

Anna only gave a half-hearted wave in response.

That night, Lulu laid wide awake in bed thinking about everything that happened today during their ride to Mt. Morris. She wondered - what was going to happen tomorrow? And more importantly, what was going to happen to the Pony Pals if someone found out about this?


	3. Absent

At school the next day, Tommy Rand was nowhere to be seen. There was no one in the halls to call them the Pony Pests, no one acting like a big fat bully in front of his friends. Lulu thought it felt strange. She’d almost gotten used to his meanness.

After school, Anna and Lulu prepared their ponies and rode Pony Pal Trail over to Pam’s house. It was even colder today than it was yesterday, and Lulu gave a shiver as they rode. It was also snowing again today, so thankfully they didn’t have to worry about Tommy being found.

When they arrived at Pam’s, Lightning galloped across the paddock to greet Acorn and Snow White at the fence. They’d been together nearly all day yesterday, but she was still quite happy to see them again.

Once they dismounted their ponies and removed all their gear, they led them into the paddock to be together with Lightning. The three ponies neighed greetings at one another, then took off galloping to the other side of the paddock.

Finally, Anna and Lulu went to the barn to meet up with Pam so they could talk about their predicament.

“School felt kind of weird today,” Anna said.

“I know, I kept expecting to see him in the hallway, but he just wasn’t there,” said Pam.

“Did you hear anybody talking about him?” Lulu asked them.

Pam shook her head. “I didn’t. Maybe people just assumed he’s sick or something.”

“Or playing hooky. That sounds like something he would do,” Anna scoffed.

“Pam? Come here, please!” a voice suddenly called. It sounded like it was coming from outside the barn, towards the paddock.

“Oh no! Who’s that?” Lulu cried.

“Do you think they were listening in on us?” Anna asked, her eyes wide.

Pam leaned forward to look out the barn door. “I think it’s my dad. I’ll go see what he wants.”

She hurried off in the direction of the voice, while Lulu and Anna stood there holding their breath. What if Pam’s dad heard what they were talking about? What if he decided to report them to the police? Or maybe Tommy Rand’s parents were out there, and they wanted to question them about their son. What would they say, then?

Nearly ten minutes passed. Lulu and Anna were getting worried. They were about to leave the barn in search of Pam when she finally returned once more, this time carrying a plate of cookies.

“What happened? Did your dad hear us talking?” Anna asked her.

“No, he didn’t hear anything. He called me out because he needed help with a pony he’s currently treating. The poor thing didn’t want to take her medicine,” Pam explained.

Lulu and Anna breathed a sigh of relief.

“And I figured we could use a snack while we’re out here,” Pam added, gesturing at the plate of cookies.

Lulu grabbed a cookie and took a bite. “Mmm, chocolate chip. These are good.”

Now that Pam’s dad was gone and the coast was clear, they resumed their discussion on Tommy Rand.

“So what are we going to do about this?” Pam asked them.

“Do you think we should just pretend we never found him?” Anna said. “What if we just pretend it never happened and the whole thing goes away?”

“I don’t think that’ll happen,” Lulu said. “Lots of people know we didn’t like him. And we left so much evidence back at his body. Fingerprints, footprints, hoof prints…”

“Plus they’re probably going to find him eventually. Don’t people send out search parties when someone goes missing like this?” Pam said.

“Yeah, I’m sure his family has reported him missing,” Lulu said.

They all fell silent again, continuing to munch on the plate of cookies as they thought about what to do next.

“What do other people normally do in this situation?” Anna said between mouthfuls of cookies.

“Hmm… I’m not sure.” Pam put a hand to her chin as she thought.

“Maybe we can try to research it,” Lulu suggested.

“But how are we going to research this kind of thing? That’d probably look suspicious to others,” Pam pointed out.

Lulu shrugged her shoulders. It wouldn’t be suspicious if no one caught them doing it, she thought.

“My parents often have the news on at night after dinner,” Anna said. “And sometimes they talk about murders there. So maybe I can try to listen in?”

Lulu and Pam nodded with her.

“How about we all do some cautious research like what Anna suggested? Then we can each come up with an idea,” Pam said.

“Ooh yeah, we could meet at the diner tomorrow after school and share them,” Anna said with an eager nod.

“Let’s do it!” said Lulu.

They all high fived, happy with their plan.

As dinnertime approached, Lulu and Anna said goodbye to Pam and rode back home on Pony Pal Trail. After Lulu put Snow White in her paddock, Snow White stood near the gate, as if she didn’t want her to leave. Lulu laid her face against Snow White’s cheek.

“We’re in a tough situation here, Snow White. What should we do?” Lulu asked her.

Snow White gave a soft neigh, as if to say, “It’s going to be okay. Trust me.”

Lulu smiled. “Okay, Snow White. I trust you.”


	4. Three Ideas

The next day after school, the three Pony Pals met up at the local Off-Main Diner and sat at their favorite booth towards the very back of the dining area. Anna said hi to her mom, then went into the kitchen and came out with sandwiches and root beer floats for them.

“These look great, Anna,” Lulu remarked as she looked at the root beer floats.

“Yeah, they look amazing. Did you make these?” Pam asked her.

Anna nodded. “I’ve been practicing. My mom showed me a couple tricks to make them even tastier, so I hope you like them.”

Lulu and Pam immediately started in on their sandwiches so they could get to those floats even faster. Anna giggled at them.

Eventually Lulu paused as they were halfway through their meal. “Do we want to share our ideas now?”

“Sure, I’ll go first,” said Anna. She pulled a slip of paper from her pocket and placed it on the table before them. It was a drawing - what looked to be a body that was hidden, and a policeman that looked a bit perplexed.

“Basically, we need to hide him better to make sure no one finds him. If they never find him, then the problem goes away, right?” Anna explained.

Lulu considered what she was saying. “That makes sense. If they can’t find him, then there’s no way of knowing what happened to him, and no way to accuse us.”

“Exactly,” Anna said.

“My idea ties in with Anna’s, actually,” Pam said, placing her slip of paper on the table. It read:

_Use gear from the barn to hide Tommy and safely transport him somewhere that he won’t be found._

“I like that,” Lulu said.

“Yeah, it would make it so we don’t get caught when we’re trying to hide him,” Anna said.

“We have a ton of extra horse blankets in the barn,” Pam said. “And they’re so big that it’d be easy to use a couple of those to hide him.”

Lulu and Anna nodded in agreement.

“What was your idea, Lulu?” Anna asked her.

Lulu pulled a slip of paper from her pocket. It read:

_Hide him in a body of water._

“I hadn’t thought about that,” Pam said.

“I saw this on a nature documentary that I watched with my grandmother last night. When something that’s not an aquatic creature spends a lot of time in the water, it starts to rapidly decay. So if we put him in water, the same thing would happen to him, right?”

“That makes sense. It’d be like the ultimate way to hide him forever,” said Anna.

“That fits in nicely with our ideas. But if we do that, I guess we have to decide where,” Pam said.

“Yeah, that’s true. I thought maybe we could figure that out together,” Lulu said.

“Why don’t we go over to my place?” Pam offered. “My parents have a giant map of the town and surrounding areas in the barn. I bet we could use that to find a place.”

“Good thinking. Let’s go!” Lulu said.

After clearing their table and packing up some brownies to-go, the three of them left the diner and began the trek to Pam’s house. It was snowing again today, and though it was still quite cold out, Lulu found herself enjoying the snow. The town held a certain beauty when it was covered in white like this.

When they reached the barn at Pam’s house, they pulled out the map and began looking for bodies of water where they could put Tommy.

“What about Badd Brook?” Anna said, pointing at it on the map. “It runs through Pony Pal Trail, so it’d be pretty easy to do it without being seen.

“Badd Brook is shallow, though. If the water’s not deep enough, he’ll probably be found pretty quickly,” Pam said.

Lulu agreed with Pam. Having the police find him almost immediately, and on a trail that the Pony Pals frequently used, would be bad news for them.

Studying the map some more, Lulu eventually pointed to Lake Appamapog at the northwest corner of town.

“What about here?” she said. “I know the water is really deep, because my dad talked about the various types of fish that live at different levels in the lake.”

“Deep water is good,” said Pam. “It is near the Wiggins Estate… But maybe that’s a good thing?”

“That’s perfect!” Anna said. “We ride there pretty often, anyway. So we could pretend like we’re riding there to have a picnic together, and then take care of things.”

“There’s one thing about the lake, though. Do we know if it’s frozen over right now? I know it sometimes freezes during the winter,” Pam pointed out.

“That’s true,” Lulu said. “But since it’s still earlier in the winter, I think it should be okay. If there is any ice, it’s probably pretty thin.

Pam and Anna nodded with her.

“It sounds like we have a plan, then!” Anna said excitedly.

The Pony Pals happily high fived, ready to move forward with the next part of their plan.

When Lulu left Pam’s house later that evening, she felt a mix of emotions swirling around her. She was thankful that they were able to come up with a plan for taking care of Tommy Rand. But at the same time, she felt her stomach doing somersaults. Would this really work? Would the Pony Pals be able to get rid of Tommy Rand for good?


	5. A Big Job

It was another cold, snowy day as the Pony Pals rode across Wiggins and over to Mt. Morris. Luckily today was a holiday at school, so they had all day to take care of things at the lake. Lulu was thankful for the holiday, since she was already nervous about what they would be doing today.

Lulu had packed some snacks, sandwiches, and other supplies in a large basket for their “picnic” today. Pam brought some extra horse blankets from her family’s barn to help with secure transport. And Anna loaded Acorn with some camping equipment in case they needed extra gear to help hide what they were doing.

They eventually turned their ponies down the fateful trail at Mt. Morris and rode towards the clearing at the end. Lulu noted along the way that there were no footprints in the snow, which meant that no one else had been here. Though the fresh snow that was falling this morning could have covered any recent tracks, she thought. It was difficult to tell.

When they reached the clearing, the three of them dismounted and tied their ponies’ leads to a nearby branch. Lulu felt her heart pounding as they approached the spot where Tommy was supposed to be. What if he was gone? What if someone found him and realized what had happened here? How would they explain themselves then?

But as Lulu began to brush aside the snow where she thought Tommy was, she noticed a familiar foot sticking out. She gave a massive sigh of relief.

“Whew, he’s still here,” she said.

“That’s good. It means we can still move forward with our plan,” said Pam.

“Thank goodness. I was up half the night worrying about this,” Anna complained.

The Pony Pals proceeded to uncover Tommy and roll him up in a couple of the blankets Pam brought. The blankets were pretty big, so it was easy to keep him fully covered. But he was also pretty heavy, and very frozen, so it took all their strength to move him.

After that, they used snow to fill in the spot where he’d been lying for the past few days. The ground there was level now, and the falling snow was already helping to make it look more natural.

“There, it’s like nothing ever happened here,” Lulu said, brushing off her hands.

“Which pony do you think would be best for transporting him?” Pam asked them.

Anna stepped forward. “I think Acorn’s up for it,” she said, smiling as she looked over at him.

“Are you sure?” asked Pam. “It’s going to be some extra weight.”

“He’s carried plenty of heavy equipment before. Plus he pulls a lot of extra weight in the winter parade every year, too,” Anna said.

They all agreed that Acorn was the best choice here. And so the three of them prepared to lift the blanket-wrapped Tommy from the ground. It took every ounce of strength they had, but they were finally able to hoist him up onto Acorn’s back. Acorn stood very still the whole time, making the process a little easier for them.

Once Tommy was up there, Anna began rearranging some of the camping equipment on Acorn’s back to better hide him. While she was doing that, Lulu decided to pack up the shovel they found here as well. No point in leaving this behind, she thought to herself.

“Does that look okay?” Anna asked them as she finished her rearranging.

Lulu took a few steps back to take a look. “I think so. It kind of looks like he’s carrying an extra sleeping bag.”

Pam nodded with her. “I picked those blankets for that exact reason.”

Anna gave a couple tugs on the large mass of blankets. “It feels secure, too. Both straps are attached to the saddle, so nothing should fall off.”

Lulu gave a thumbs up, then gave Acorn a couple pats on the neck.

“You’ve got a big job today, Acorn. Think you’re up for it?” she asked him.

Acorn gave a loud whinny in response, as if to say, “You know I am!”

The three of them laughed at his enthusiasm.

But they weren’t done quite yet. They still had to get Tommy over to the lake without being caught. And so the Pony Pals mounted their ponies and started back down the long Mt. Morris trail once more.

They rode across the northernmost part of Wiggins through several long, wooded trails. They could’ve taken an easier route through the town itself, but that would be risky. These trails were further outside of town, so it was less likely that they would run into someone along the way.

Lulu was happy with their plan so far, but she found herself impatient as they rode. Some of these trails were narrow or coated in ice, so they had to slow down their ponies to be safe. But Lulu wanted to gallop to the lake and get this over with as soon as possible.

Thankfully, after what felt like hours and hours of riding, the trail finally opened up to the great Lake Appamapog. It was beautiful, and the surrounding hills glistened with an icy sheen. There were very few trees in this area so they still had to be careful, but not many people would be out here in the wintertime.

“Let’s ride to the far side of the lake,” Lulu suggested.

Pam and Anna agreed, and they moved their ponies into a canter until they reached the west side of the lake. This would be the safest place to carry out the last part of their plan.

“It looks like the snow stopped,” Pam said as they dismounted their ponies.

“It’s still pretty cold out here,” Anna said with a shiver.

Lulu squinted and stared out over the lake. There were a couple icy patches near the shoreline, but she could see light ripples in the water.

“It’s not frozen!” she exclaimed. “Our plan is going to work!”

“Hurray!” Pam and Anna cheered together.

This is perfect, Lulu thought. Everything is working exactly as we planned.

But just as the Pony Pals started to unpack some of their supplies for their “picnic”, Anna let out a scream.

“Look, over there!” Anna shouted, pointing across the lake.

Lulu turned around. “Is that… is that a person?”

“Oh no, I think it is!” said Pam.

She was right. There was someone on the other side of the lake, and they were coming right this way!


	6. The Perfect Picnic

“What do we do?” Anna frantically asked. “Do we try to get rid of him in the lake before they get here?”

“That’s too risky. They might see us, and then we’d be in big trouble,” Lulu said. “Plus whoever it is, they’re moving pretty fast.”

“It looks like they’re riding a horse,” Pam said.

“Wait a second… That’s Ms. Wiggins and Picasso!” Anna exclaimed.

Lulu leaned forward to get a better look. Anna was right. It was Ms. Wiggins in her red coat, and she was riding Picasso, her big black horse. He was fast, faster than any of their ponies.

“Do we just try to keep him hidden?” Anna asked them.

Acorn gave a snort as if to say, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

“I think that’s the best we can do,” said Pam.

Lulu nodded with Pam and Acorn. “Just act normal. As far as she knows, we’re just visiting here on our day off.”

Anna looked nervous, but nodded with them. Only a few seconds later, Ms. Wiggins trotted up to them on Picasso, then brought him to a halt.

“Well, I didn’t expect to run into you three here today. What a nice surprise!” Ms. Wiggins greeted them.

“We decided to do some extra riding since today’s a school holiday,” Lulu said.

“That’s right. We packed a picnic lunch and everything,” added Pam, gesturing over to the basket.

“How nice! Though it is very cold out here today. You girls are quite adventurous, coming all the way to the lake on a snowy day for a picnic,” Ms. Wiggins said.

“Acorn loves the snow,” Anna said. “He and Snow White have been playing in it every day in their paddock together.”

“I can’t blame him. The town looks so beautiful in the snow. It’s been a source of inspiration in my paintings lately.”

As Ms. Wiggins spoke, Acorn gave a loud snort and started shuffling about the snow.

Anna looked over at him and gave him a couple pats. “It’s okay, Acorn,” she said nervously.

But he only gave a loud whinny in response. Lulu tried to remain calm, but inside she was screaming. Acorn, now is not the time, she thought to herself.

“He must be happy to see Picasso again,” Ms. Wiggins said. She led Picasso over to Acorn, and the two sniffed each other’s faces.

“Easy, Acorn,” Anna said. Her face told Lulu that she was screaming on the inside, too.

Ms. Wiggins patted Acorn on the neck. “You ready for the winter parade this year, Acorn?” she said to him.

Acorn responded with another neigh. He needs to calm down so he doesn’t blow our cover, Lulu kept thinking.

“He’s definitely looking forward to it,” Anna said, tightening her grip on his lead.

“Good, he’s a fine parade leader,” Ms. Wiggins said.

For an instant she seemed to look over at the camping equipment packed on Acorn’s back. Lulu held her breath. Please don’t notice. Please don’t notice. Please don’t notice.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to your picnic now. It was nice seeing you again. You’ll have to stop by sometime soon for snacks!” Ms. Wiggins said.

“Yeah, maybe sometime after school next week,” Lulu said. She was gritting her teeth at this point.

But thankfully, Ms. Wiggins climbed back onto Picasso a second later and gave them a wave before riding off in the opposite direction. She disappeared before long.

The three of them let out a huge sigh of relief.

“That was close!” said Pam.

“When she came over to pet Acorn, I thought I was going to cry,” Anna said. “But it seems like she didn’t notice anything.”

“She probably would’ve said something if she did,” Lulu said.

Acorn snorted at them as if to say, “See? I knew what I was doing.”

Anna gave him another pat. “You did it, Acorn. Good job,” she praised him.

“Do you think it’s safe to go forward with our plan now?” Pam asked.

Lulu spun in a circle as she looked around the entire lake area. There was no one to be seen, not even a bird in the sky.

“I think so. It seems like there’s no one else around here for miles,” Lulu said.

“So how should we do this?” said Anna.

The three of them stood staring at the large blanket mass on Acorn’s back.

“Why don’t we pull him down from Acorn, then drag him down to the water? The blankets will make it easy,” Pam suggested.

“And the snow,” Lulu added.

Anna removed the cords that secured the rolled-up Tommy to Acorn’s saddle. Then the three of them pulled him to the ground. He landed in the snow with a muted thud.

“He’s so heavy,” Anna complained as they dragged him.

“Well, I guess he is an eighth grader,” Pam said.

When they were nearly at the water, they paused in their dragging.

“How are we going to get him into the water now?” Anna asked.

Lulu stepped forward. “I’ll do it. I’m wearing my special waterproof boots that my dad got me, anyway. So I can at least wade into the water a little bit.”

She pulled on the blanketed Tommy as hard as she could, until he finally slid into the water. But he was still very close to the shoreline. He needed to go further into the lake so he could sink in the deeper water and stay hidden.

Lulu had an idea. She grabbed the shovel that she’d taken from the clearing back at Mt. Morris. Then she dragged Tommy into the water as far as she could without freezing. She was several steps into the lake by now, but she wanted to go further.

She took the shovel and used all her strength to give Tommy the biggest push she possibly could.

“This is for the Pony Pals,” she said to herself.

And sure enough, he went floating out towards the middle of the lake.

Lulu held her breath as she watched him floating out there. Keep going, keep going, she thought. And only a second later, he began to sink in the water. He kept sinking, and before long, there was nothing left of him. He was totally submerged in the lake.

Lulu could hardly contain herself. She ran from the lake back up to her friends, who were cheering and hugging one another.

“We did it!” they all said together with a high five.

“It worked! It actually worked!” Anna exclaimed.

“I knew we could do it!” Pam said.

Lulu was shivering now, but she was so happy that she didn’t care. “Let’s have our Pony Pals picnic now!” she said.

Pam and Anna agreed. And so they opened up the picnic basket and proceeded to enjoy the lunch that Lulu had packed for them. Lulu stared out over the lake as she ate, and she thought to herself that this was the best sandwich she’d ever had.


End file.
